Road to Mekong by Piya Bahadur

My Rating - 2 out of 5 stars

Publisher - Pan Macmillan
Genre - Travelogue
Publishing year - 2020
Language - English
ISBN - 978-93-89109-12-2
Pages - 202

Book Review - 

Road to Mekong is a story of four women who travel to six countries and cover a distance of 17,000 kilometers on a bike. Piya, JB, Shilpa, and Shanthi, started the eight-week expedition from Hyderabad, India, in 2018 to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

I had certain expectations from this book, but I'm afraid to say that I'm incredibly disappointed. The Indian government-sponsored their trip, and unfortunately, this book is living proof of that. 

Don't get me wrong, I admire these women's courage, and what they achieve is outstanding. They are an inspiration to many, no doubt. But when it comes to writing or narration, this book lacks all the essential elements of a travelogue. 

It is filled with government schemes, politicians' work to maintain good relationships with their neighboring countries, and Piya Bahadur's commentary on gender-biased questions they were asked in press meets. She shared something about solitude, people and places they encountered, and road conditions that were too boring to read. 

The book is only 200 pages long, but it is monotonous with unnecessary content, and it was so hard for me to finish reading it. In addition, the author didn't share much about her traveling partners nor many anecdotes that make the book worth reading. 

If it were written perfectly, this travelogue would carry the power to inspire numerous people. However, being a reader, I wanted to know the issues they faced on the road and how they avoided them, what kind of bond they created while traveling, and many other vital aspects of their journey. If you're also preparing for a voyage similar to this one, you'll not be going to find any helpful information here. 

I often thought to DNF this book, and my only reason to give this book two stars instead of one is that these women are doing something that many people don't, and what they achieve is worth noting. I admire their discipline, determination, and courage, but not writing skills because there is none to find.  

I will not recommend this book, but if you still wish to read it, you can grab your copy from - Amazon IN Amazon US